I just read and watched Brainwashed, I like 99% of it. But the two songs prior to that were terrible. "Don't Look Down" is objectively a satanic music video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQRww_yhVpQ
"Withdrawals" has low-energy, poorly influential lyrics I wouldn't want my daughter or son to listen to.
But now I've had too much fun, it's over now // I loved what I hated // Deleted every number from my phone, I'm staying home // Really wish that I was drunk with all my friends // I'm gonna beat it or I won't and overdose // Really wish that I was high with all my friends
I'm glad that we can at least agree on Brainwashed. I hadn't seen those two yet, so I just watched the music videos for the first time. Maybe I can give you some perspective into how I see the others.
I'd rather my son or daughter listened to him than literally any other rapper or hip hop artist today. They would need to be old enough to understand the topic though, since while the message he delivers is a good one, it could come across as dark and confusing.
"Don't Look Down" is for sure the darkest one I've seen so far. Calling it "satanic" is a big stretch though. The theme of the music video is an honest representation of the message. I don't find the message relevant to me, but it's also not supposed to be, since it's a response people hating on him.
The way I see it, the tone is mostly a consequence of him being brutally honest, which is something that no other popular rappers do. He's not putting on some fake persona and hiding his emotions. He's responding to pressure from the hate and constant attacks he gets from the world, and the dark things he's gone through, and the delivery of his message is authentic.
I think "Withdrawals" was deliberately low energy, since going through withdrawals isn't a very high energy experience, and the tone reflects the heaviness of the topic.
The lyrics are telling a rather depressing story, that is the experience of going through withdrawals, which is not pretty. He's not trying to hype up the message, quite the opposite in fact. He's giving you an idea of what happens if you have too much fun. It comes to an end and leaves you in a very bad place. It's very honest, so it doesn't hide the feelings. He's trying to convey what a depressing experience it is, to deter kids from doing it, not make them want to put themselves in that position.
We'll just have to agree to disagree. I'm coming at this as someone who is part of that industry, so I get subjected to a lot of really shitty art unfortunately, and the music video for don't look down I would file under dark, demonic, etc. just like all the idiot puppets who bow to 360 music label contracts in exchange for temporary stardom.
TM is a professional polemicist so he should not get surprised or offended at people hating his art.. It would be like Ann Coulter writing a book trashing her haters. To me, Withdrawals is super cringe. It's like he was trying to write a Billie Eilish song. The fake tears and anger are comically bad.
But to each their own, esp. in terms of art so I'm not telling you what to listen to or anything, and if it brings you personal joy then that's great. Like a meat factory employee can tell you all day what's in a hot dog but you're still free to think with your tongue.
I'm not sure that we would disagree on anything at all, if you had a little more insight into him and could see the full picture. Music may be subjective, but good character, authenticity, and the value of speaking the truth shouldn't be. I am judging him purely on those three things, and not the music itself.
You're totally right about the music industry, and everything said in the video you linked about the industry is true. I haven't listened to any music produced by a artist that is a part of the industry in over 10 years now, because it's all plain terrible.
That's why I'm so glad that I found Tom MacDonald, who's a breath of fresh air. His music is literally the first rap or hip hop that I've ever been able to enjoy in my whole life. His message caught my interest, but discovering who he actually is turned me into a fan overnight.
The mistake you're making is assuming that because the entire music industry is that way, he is the same. I have serious doubts about that, because I have yet to see anything which would give me reason to suspect it, and many things which point to the opposite being true.
It seems counter-intuitive, but the style of some of his dark music videos along with personal attributes may act as a necessary filter, and helps keep many horrible people away. You have to value his underlying character and message enough to see past the superficial things, which many won't be able to do. It's not unlike the nasty things people say on this site. If nothing offensive was said, this place would be full of mobs of angry leftists trolling and attacking every post and comment, just like anywhere else on the internet.
Not sure how much you know about his personal life, but he's been through some really tough times, and surviving that changed him and ignited his conviction to spread the truth no matter what.
He's always been totally independent. He rejected the industry at a great cost. He could have been an overnight success backed by a label, but he decided to fight back against the industry and establishment instead. His songs and music videos are mostly produced by just him and his long term girlfriend.
Not sure how much you know about his girlfriend, but here is one of her songs, which also gives a little insight into their relationship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VF7gCRhC1o
I find it intriguing that she chose "Rockafeller" as her stage name. It's a gutsy thing to do, and means they must have already known a lot about the elites more than a decade ago, when she chose the name.
He is open about hating the industry and other rappers, and for many of the same reasons that you do. That's why he gets so much hate, and also why he sometimes responds with a dark song addressing the haters. The entire industry wants to see him fail, but he has still built a very successful brand. He gets suppressed by all media, and has still built a huge fan base. His fans seem to generally be good people, since he alienates most other people.
The comments you'll find from fans on his videos are strikingly different from what you'd usually see from a rappers fans.
As for "Withdrawals", I won't deny it's cringe, and also not my kind of thing, but I can still understand why it was produced that way.
It's possible I've missing something, so If you know of anything that would point to him having ties to labels or any of their messed up shit, I'd love to see it! I suspect that if there was any dirt to find on him, it would have already been found and used against him by those who see him as a threat.
I just read and watched Brainwashed, I like 99% of it. But the two songs prior to that were terrible. "Don't Look Down" is objectively a satanic music video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQRww_yhVpQ
"Withdrawals" has low-energy, poorly influential lyrics I wouldn't want my daughter or son to listen to.
I'm glad that we can at least agree on Brainwashed. I hadn't seen those two yet, so I just watched the music videos for the first time. Maybe I can give you some perspective into how I see the others.
I'd rather my son or daughter listened to him than literally any other rapper or hip hop artist today. They would need to be old enough to understand the topic though, since while the message he delivers is a good one, it could come across as dark and confusing.
"Don't Look Down" is for sure the darkest one I've seen so far. Calling it "satanic" is a big stretch though. The theme of the music video is an honest representation of the message. I don't find the message relevant to me, but it's also not supposed to be, since it's a response people hating on him.
The way I see it, the tone is mostly a consequence of him being brutally honest, which is something that no other popular rappers do. He's not putting on some fake persona and hiding his emotions. He's responding to pressure from the hate and constant attacks he gets from the world, and the dark things he's gone through, and the delivery of his message is authentic.
I think "Withdrawals" was deliberately low energy, since going through withdrawals isn't a very high energy experience, and the tone reflects the heaviness of the topic.
The lyrics are telling a rather depressing story, that is the experience of going through withdrawals, which is not pretty. He's not trying to hype up the message, quite the opposite in fact. He's giving you an idea of what happens if you have too much fun. It comes to an end and leaves you in a very bad place. It's very honest, so it doesn't hide the feelings. He's trying to convey what a depressing experience it is, to deter kids from doing it, not make them want to put themselves in that position.
We'll just have to agree to disagree. I'm coming at this as someone who is part of that industry, so I get subjected to a lot of really shitty art unfortunately, and the music video for don't look down I would file under dark, demonic, etc. just like all the idiot puppets who bow to 360 music label contracts in exchange for temporary stardom.
TM is a professional polemicist so he should not get surprised or offended at people hating his art.. It would be like Ann Coulter writing a book trashing her haters. To me, Withdrawals is super cringe. It's like he was trying to write a Billie Eilish song. The fake tears and anger are comically bad.
But to each their own, esp. in terms of art so I'm not telling you what to listen to or anything, and if it brings you personal joy then that's great. Like a meat factory employee can tell you all day what's in a hot dog but you're still free to think with your tongue.
I'm not sure that we would disagree on anything at all, if you had a little more insight into him and could see the full picture. Music may be subjective, but good character, authenticity, and the value of speaking the truth shouldn't be. I am judging him purely on those three things, and not the music itself.
You're totally right about the music industry, and everything said in the video you linked about the industry is true. I haven't listened to any music produced by a artist that is a part of the industry in over 10 years now, because it's all plain terrible.
That's why I'm so glad that I found Tom MacDonald, who's a breath of fresh air. His music is literally the first rap or hip hop that I've ever been able to enjoy in my whole life. His message caught my interest, but discovering who he actually is turned me into a fan overnight.
The mistake you're making is assuming that because the entire music industry is that way, he is the same. I have serious doubts about that, because I have yet to see anything which would give me reason to suspect it, and many things which point to the opposite being true.
It seems counter-intuitive, but the style of some of his dark music videos along with personal attributes may act as a necessary filter, and helps keep many horrible people away. You have to value his underlying character and message enough to see past the superficial things, which many won't be able to do. It's not unlike the nasty things people say on this site. If nothing offensive was said, this place would be full of mobs of angry leftists trolling and attacking every post and comment, just like anywhere else on the internet.
Not sure how much you know about his personal life, but he's been through some really tough times, and surviving that changed him and ignited his conviction to spread the truth no matter what.
He's always been totally independent. He rejected the industry at a great cost. He could have been an overnight success backed by a label, but he decided to fight back against the industry and establishment instead. His songs and music videos are mostly produced by just him and his long term girlfriend.
Not sure how much you know about his girlfriend, but here is one of her songs, which also gives a little insight into their relationship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VF7gCRhC1o
I find it intriguing that she chose "Rockafeller" as her stage name. It's a gutsy thing to do, and means they must have already known a lot about the elites more than a decade ago, when she chose the name.
He is open about hating the industry and other rappers, and for many of the same reasons that you do. That's why he gets so much hate, and also why he sometimes responds with a dark song addressing the haters. The entire industry wants to see him fail, but he has still built a very successful brand. He gets suppressed by all media, and has still built a huge fan base. His fans seem to generally be good people, since he alienates most other people.
The comments you'll find from fans on his videos are strikingly different from what you'd usually see from a rappers fans.
Here's an example of a live performance, where you can get an idea of the atmosphere: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE79mG0_WtI
As for "Withdrawals", I won't deny it's cringe, and also not my kind of thing, but I can still understand why it was produced that way.
It's possible I've missing something, so If you know of anything that would point to him having ties to labels or any of their messed up shit, I'd love to see it! I suspect that if there was any dirt to find on him, it would have already been found and used against him by those who see him as a threat.
You may find this interesting https://worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video-c.php?v=wshhOt0ZNtYEo6B1ap1q